SEC football roundup: Winless Vanderbilt still makes history
SEC football roundup from Saturday’s games:
Alabama 42, Auburn 13: Who needs Nick Saban? The Alabama coach sat this one out after testing positive for COVID-19 (for real this time). Without the head coach, Mac Jones’ Heisman Trophy campaign kept barreling down the tracks as the junior quarterback threw for five touchdowns in the Tide’s romp over visiting Auburn.
Bama’s boss of a receiver DeVonta Smith caught seven passes for 171 yards. Over his last three games, Smith has caught 27 passes for 518 yards. That’s 19.2 yards per reception. That’s ridiculous. And Bama is 8-0.
Auburn dropped to 5-3 as quarterback Bo Nix was picked off twice while completing 23 of 38 passes for 227 yards. Playing at three-quarters speed because of injury, Auburn running back Tank Bigsby was held to 39 yards on 11 carries.
Texas A&M 20, LSU 7: Texas A&M’s defense held LSU to a mere 36 yards rushing and just 267 yards overall as the Aggies improved to 6-1. They did so despite quarterback Kellen Mond missing on 23 of 34 passes and finishing with just 105 yards through the air.
Luckily for A&M, Isaiah Spiller rushed for 141 yards on 27 carries, the fourth time in his last five games Spiller has rushed for over 100 yards. And the A&M defense discombobulated LSU freshman quarterback TJ Finley, who completed just nine of 25 passes and felt the wrath of Coach Ed Orgeron.
Florida 34, Kentucky 10: UK’s bad luck just won’t quit. Last week, the Cats caught Alabama after a 21-day break for the Tide. Result: Bama won by 60. Saturday, the Cats caught Florida just in time to welcome back Kyle Pitts. After missing the last two games with a concussion, the Gators’ star tight end caught three TD passes as Florida improved to 7-1.
Gators quarterback Kyle Trask was 21 of 27 for 256 yards passing. And the Florida defense allowed Kentucky a miserly 46 total yards in the second half as the Wildcats fell to 3-5. UK managed just 62 yards passing on 19 attempts for the game.
Ole Miss 31, Mississippi State 24: Lane Kiffin is now 1-0 vs. Mike Leach in the Egg Bowl rivalry. Elijah Moore caught 12 passes for 139 yards and Jerrion Ealy rushed for 93 yards on 18 carries as Ole Miss improved to 4-4. Quarterback Matt Corral threw a 48-yard TD pass to Dontario Drummond and an 81-yard TD pass to Braylon Sanders.
Mississippi State freshman quarterback Will Rogers threw for 440 yards on 45 completions in 61 attempts. But the Bulldogs were held to just 39 yards rushing on 16 attempts as Leach fell to 2-6 in his Starkville debut.
Missouri 41, Vanderbilt 0: Mizzou got the win but Vanderbilt got the headlines thanks to Sarah Fuller, the goalie on the Commodores women’s soccer team who kicked off to start the second half. That made her the first female to compete in a Power Five football game.
As for the rest of the game, Vanderbilt managed just 185 total yards on the way to 0-8. Quarterback Ken Seals completed 11 of 18 passes but for just 79 yards. Mizzou’s Connor Bazelak hit on 30 of 37 passes for 318 yards and running back Larry Rountree rushed for 160 yards on 21 carries. Missouri is 4-3.
Georgia 45, South Carolina 16: Georgia got its running game back in gear, rolling over the Gamecocks for 332 yards on the ground. James Cook rushed for 104 yards on a mere six carries. Zamir White gained 84 yards on 13 attempts. Kenny McIntosh rushed for 79 yards on nine carries while Daijun Edwards picked up 77 yards rushing on 14 attempts. The Dawgs averaged 7.2 yards per carry in improving to 6-2.
South Carolina freshman quarterback Luke Doty completed 18 of 22 passes for 190 yards with a TD and an interception. South Carolina is now 2-7 overall and 0-2 under interim coach Mike Bobo. The Gamecocks finish 2020 Saturday at Kentucky.
SEC football games Dec. 5
Times and TV to be determined
- Texas A&M at Auburn
- Florida at Tennessee
- Vanderbilt at Georgia
- South Carolina at Kentucky
- Arkansas at Missouri
- Alabama at LSU
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 10:36 AM.
